From the Desk of the President

'Calling all Vets Riders - the business end of the season is at hand'

We
have seen some fantastic racing over the last few weeks with numbers
building from the deep winter 'hibernation' to finally achieve some
(numerical) respectability. The last weekend saw 49 riders (plus 9
officials) across all grades to compete in a secret handicap race on the
Old Federal Hwy course. The conditions were fantastic - a very light
breeze, some sun and only a handful of cars and one truck to bother us
on the three laps out to Lake George and back.

The
week before (8 August) saw 41 riders and 7 officials in a hard fought
graded scratch at Lookout Hill, which followed the Cole Family H'cap at
Dog Trap Road the week before with 36 and 8.

Getting
fifty riders or even seventy would gladden our hearts, especially as we
move into the really interesting part of the winter road racing season.
Here is some food for thought over the next few weeks. We would love to
see you 'out there'.

-
22 August. Get your climbing legs into gear with this TT which is run
part way up the Corin road from the corner to Woods Reserve. It's only
as hard as you wish to make it, but are you improving or deteriorating
from the last time you rode this bench-mark ride? Give it a try . . . if
you like real effort.

-
29 August. A good relaxation for last weeks sore legs (ha ha), we have a
very interesting graded points race at Stromlo. Get out there and give
it a try and see how easy it is to win those points in your grade. . .
or not.

-
5 September. The big one - the club championships out at Uriarria. You
may have been hiding in your grade all year, but this is your chance to
ride in age categories and see how you go. It can be the race of truth
for some and you might be surprised how well you do, but be sure to play
it tactically and pick some stronger riders to lead you.

-
12 September. The annual 'Iron Mike'. The 'Mike' will show up who has
been doing the hard yards over winter and who has been staying under the
doona. The Iron Mike is a festival of going up hill, then going down,
then racing on the flat. There is just no excuse for missing this
classic race. It's the one to brag about to your grand kids . . . just
being there is enough.

So
let's see if we can have some good weather and crack 70 riders, then
'the ton' at these great road races. Look forward to seeing you.

Alex O'Shea

Register for Fitz's Challenge in 2015

Fitz's
Challenge - Canberra’s long distance cycling event – will be held on
Sunday 25 October 2015 to provide participants the chance to choose
their challenge from one of five course distances while also raising
much needed funds for The Kids’ Cancer Project.

RACE REPORT:

Old Federal Highway - Blind Handicap – 15th August

It
was a dark and stormy night......no, I can't back that up. In fact the
race conditions were near on perfect. Temperature in the low teens and
little to no wind, and to make the race conditions even better there was
very little traffic. So the 49 riders who turned up to race were very
well catered for.

Being
a blind handicap the idea is to try to hang on to riders in a grade(s)
above you, while if you're an A grader then you ride as quick as you can
and drop any lower graders. While three A graders (Ashley Carruthers,
Marc Vroomans and Toby Driscoll) were able to drop all would be
wheelsuckers, and record the fastest time for the race (the honour went
to Ashley who recorded an average speed of 37.7kph over the course),
they weren't fast enough to counter the effect of the handicaps awarded
to the lower grades.

C
grade rode well together as a group, assisted by a number of A grade
riders who didn't make the cut with their fellow A graders, and recorded
an average speed of 34.8 kph, a fast time for the course and stacks up
well in comparison to the leading A graders pace. Oddly no B grade
riders turned up for the race. However due to an 'oversight' on the part
of the C grade riders, or was it simply because Sue Powell and Terry
Moore were too strong, but the aforementioned riders, who were D
graders, managed to hold onto the C grade pack.

Or
was it an oversight? Did the A grade riders keep the pace high enough
so that no one could attack off the front, but not so high that the D
graders would get dropped, and at the same time exact revenge on their
fellow A graders who had ridden off?

With
the benefit of their handicaps and the hard work of the C/A grade pack,
Sue and Terry were able to secure 1st and 2nd spot respectively in the
race. Well done and commiserations, I'm sure that your efforts will come
to the attention of the handicapper - it doesn't pay to keep up with A
graders when you're meant to be in D grade!

Securing
3rd spot in the race was Anthony O'Connor, a C grade rider. Again, well
done. The hard work done by C grade did have some reward.

Being a blind handicap the race pretty much splintered across the course, but no one was lapped and we only had one DNF.

On
anther matter unrelated to the race, Adrian Rollins, a member of this
Club, is currently over in Europe attempting to do the three Haute
Routes CONSECUTIVELY.

For
those who may not be familiar with the three Haute Routes (held in the
Pyrenees, the Alps and the Dolomites) each are held over 7 days and each
day generally takes in enough climbing to give you altitude sickness.
Each Haute Route is separated by one day only. Attempting one is brave,
attempting two is foolhardy, attempting three is downright insane!